Matrix Games Forums

I've been eyeing TOAW3 for quite some time, but I just wanted to make sure there isn't a more recent alternative I should be looking at as well.

I also wanted to make sure this will run on Win 7?

Thanks!

ORIGINAL: johnnyrey

I've been eyeing TOAW3 for quite some time, but I just wanted to make sure there isn't a more recent alternative I should be looking at as well.

I also wanted to make sure this will run on Win 7?

Thanks!

johnnyrey,

There is nothing comparable to TOAW. It is unique. And yes, it runs ok on Win 7.

Best wishes,
Steve

TOAW is unique that's true, there are newer similar games out though; War in the East, Decisive Campaigns series (from Warsaw to Paris already out, Fall Blau almost released... next week). Personally I like the Decisive Campaign series very much, I think they're more player friendly then WitE.
But ... but TOAW is still the grand old lady of grognard wargames, its scenario database is humongous. Having said that both WitE and DC series are very much recommended by me and many other players. I have this feeling that TOAW (and John Tillers Campaign series for that matter too) are becoming more and more niche games for a loyal game community. Great games but its haydays are gone now. 

Thanks very much for the suggestions, can I get your guys's thoughts on Advanced Tactics Gold as well?

Also, are there any games that cover more modern stuff? (Afghanistan?)

Thanks!

Well Jason Petho is working hard on a sequel in the John Tillers Campaign series called "modern wars", updates are ... a little slow lately, so no releasedate near I'm afraid. Grymme over at the ATG subforum has quite a few, very well made scenarios availabe. Some cover Vietnam and Afghanistan, but admitted, they are scarce. Both seem to be ... sort of forgotten wars. Battlefront.com has a game or two covering that episode but it's more First Person/Third Person action shooter.

I suppose it depends on what you are looking for.

WiTE, for example, is more modern but how well does it model the North African campaign? Or Vietnam? Or NATO v Warsaw Pact? Or the Japanese invasion of China or the Japanese - Russian War in 1905 or the US Invasion of Afghanistan 2001? I could go on and on and on.... It does not do any of these. In what way is it similar to TOAW?

Campaign Series is a good game but it is not a replacement for TOAW. It is not even close. I quite like Advanced Tactics and when I am in the mood for some light relief I even fire it up but again, it is not a replacement for TOAW any more than TOAW is a replacement for Advanced Tactics. Decisive Campaigns and Fall Blau I cannot comment on because I do not have them. They may well be very good games but are they really replacements for TOAW? Even if you bought all of these, would they combine to be a replacement for TOAW?

For what TOAW does, it is totally unique.

Forget about TOAW's age. It remains the ONLY game in its class.

Thanks for your thoughts, can you elaborate on why TOAW is so unique, and why you find it to be "light" compared to ATG?

Thank you!

johnnyrey,

ATG and TOAW III are two very different beasts. They are both wargame engines and they both rely on 3rd party scenarios for the actual gameplay. But that is about as far as it goes with the similarity.

TOAW III is the more serious operational level wargame. ATG is more gamey and it is more like a 4x game than a serious wargame. They are both good games but they are not interchangeable. The random game function in AT is good fun and, personally, I would say that AT is more fun in the beer and pretzel category if I understand that reference correctly.

Again, it all depends on what you are looking for. As for which one you would like best? Only you can answer that. Take the plunge and buy both - you will soon know which one you prefer.

TOAW III is unique simply because there is no other game in its category. There are other games. There are games you might like better. But there is only one TOAW.

Best wishes,
Steve

ORIGINAL: shunwick

TOAW III is unique simply because there is no other game in its category. There are other games. There are games you might like better. But there is only one TOAW.

i'm starting to be a big fan of your posts [&o]

How may players are active on this forum actually playing TOAW pbem? Just your estimation. Are there other sources for players too?

ORIGINAL: Bolkonsky

How may players are active on this forum actually playing TOAW pbem? Just your estimation. Are there other sources for players too?

There are some stats here:

http://www.the-strategist.net/RD/news.php
http://www.theblitz.org/ladders/Operati ... ults&lid=4 (Reports- Last 90 Days)

Other places to post for opponents (aside from Matrix):

http://www.theblitz.org/message_boards/ ... php?fid=15

There are other outfits but for TOAW these seem to be the main ones, though others might chime in with some I'm not aware of.

Advanced Tactics Gold in many ways does what TOAW III cannot do, but this is just my opinion. In TOAW III you cannot produce new units, no research to upgrade your equipment, cannot destroy airfields, factories or shipyards. In TOAW III you can only bring new units onto the map, but cannot produce anything, so while this is a good game I myself find ATG better.

ATG has its own problems - "units" can chop and change completely - a unit can be all tanks 1 turn, and then all aircraft the next - there is no need for continuity, and little or no "feel" for the history IMO.

Somewhere in between would be good - a few years ago there was a request that AT/ATG should allow unit compositions to be pre-defined, but it didn't happen & IMO tha would have been a great improvement.

IMO TAOW does a much better job of what it was designed of than ATG does - TOAW was not designed for strategic level whole-war simulations. But then ATG isnt' actually about tactics either!!